


all my friends were glorious

by cinderlily



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, silliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 11:37:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6115297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderlily/pseuds/cinderlily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The locker room was silent for a grand total of seven seconds before Murphs, of course, broke the silence. </p>
<p>“What. the. fuck. just. happened?” </p>
<p>An Icarus Coda.</p>
            </blockquote>





	all my friends were glorious

**Author's Note:**

  * For [freetodream5](https://archiveofourown.org/users/freetodream5/gifts), [LuciFern](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciFern/gifts), [sly_fck](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sly_fck/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Icarus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6092305) by [cinderlily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinderlily/pseuds/cinderlily), [sly_fck](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sly_fck/pseuds/sly_fck). 



The locker room was silent for a grand total of seven seconds before Murphs, of course, broke the silence. 

“What. the. fuck. just. happened?” 

Max would really like to know that himself, actually, as it was kind of a blur. The joke about Mike and Shane being their parents and the whole fighting thing had been … well. Just that. Mostly a joke? That probably went too far at times but it was the locker room. Jokes always went too far in the locker room. 

He looked at Hanzal, who had seemed like the one who was the least shocked about the whole thing. “Uh, care to share with the class there Hanzal?” 

“Not particularly,” Hanzal said and turned around to walk to his locker in the room. 

“They were actually fucking around?” Duke said, and Max turned to him. “ _They were actually fucking around, Max._ ”

His eyebrows pulled together. “You thought they weren’t?”

“Well, I thought they might be,” Duke shrugged. “But that was for sure. And _SMITTY_ did the breaking up? I wouldn’t have called that one.” 

Boyd, seated a few stalls down, actually chuckled. “What is with this freaking team? About as perceptive as a sea cucumber.” 

“HEY!” Max pointed a finger at him. “I knew they were screwing. I told you three weeks ago…” 

“Speaking of which,” Boyd smiled at Duke. “That’ll be a nice fifty for me, fucker.” 

Duke crossed his arms. “I said they’d broken up, too.” 

“You said Doan dumped Smitty,” Boyd held his hand out. 

Duke huffed and kind of reminded Max of Orion when they got home too late to do anything more than a quick walk at night. (He had a dog walker, Orion was just a brat when he didn’t get his way. Not unlike Duke, actually.) 

“I don’t keep cash on me, Old Timer.” 

Boyd shrugged. “I take money orders, checks, any form of currency really.” 

Max rolled his eyes as Duke flicked Boyd off. His eyes kept drifting towards the door they had just left through and thinking about if someone should follow them out and go act as referee or something. Mike had basically looked like he was thirty seconds from hulking out on Shane and from what Max could gleam from the speech he wouldn’t blame him. 

“Hey Meeks,” Max called over to Mikkel, who was in the middle of a serious looking conversation with Oliver. Mikkel turned his head and nodded. “You think one of us should go make sure that we still have a captain for the game tonight?” 

Mikkel muttered something, most likely in Danish, but shook his head. “Do you want to disturb them?” 

“They are either fighting or fucking right now,” Vermy called from across the room. “I would rather not be in the middle of either one of those things.” 

Max had a sudden image pop in his head and his whole body shuddered. Bleh. It was like picturing his parents doing it.

“Aww, Maxie,” Boyd had stood up and walked over. He ruffled Max’s hair and Max didn’t have time to duck it. “I’m sure one day when you meet the right girl … or guy you won’t find it disgusting.” 

“Fuck off Gordon,” he batted at him with both hands. Duke was giving him a look that was possibly not the most subtle that it could be but Boyd was pretty correct on the perceptiveness of their teammates so he counted it as a win. 

Boyd laughed and stood back. “See who buys you beer next time you need it.” 

He would go into his usual annoyed speech about how it was legal where he was from and how stupid that made it that he had to follow American rules when he wasn’t actually American but he kept his eyes trained on the door instead. The locker room seemed to have gone from intensely caring about the melodrama to more or less going through the normal routine. 

After a minute or two Oliver sat down beside him and nudged him with a shoulder. 

“They will be fine, Domi.” 

He wasn’t entirely sure why he cared so much. Both were adults, neither were related to him and while the team had bonded over the last few months it wasn’t like they were the level of friends that required this kind of intense nerves. It was just… the look on Shane’s face when he said the thing about Mike breaking up with him. It had been so open and raw it made something in his stomach ache. 

“Yeah, yeah.”

He checked his gear for the fifth time and then turned around to face the inside of the locker. It could do with a bit of cleaning, though Tippet didn’t let it get as heinous as his lockers has in the past because of scrums and the occasional VIP tour groups that would go through. 

Oliver was still beside him and made a noise. “Your locker is spotless. If you want to see horrible, go check Mikkel’s. The man can not keep anything clean. Our kitchen looks like death and we have a lady come in two times a week.” 

“That’s just because I actually cook,” Mikkel called out. 

“Heating up is NOT cooking, Meeks,” Oliver retorted. 

Again Mikkel muttered in Danish and Oliver rolled his eyes. 

“I’ll never understand that language,” he muttered towards Max. “Like a drunk Norwegian eating a potato.” 

Max couldn’t hold back the laugh at that and the room stopped briefly to look. He was hoping that somehow no one would notice the pink on top of his ears, and thankfully no one mentioned it so he was at least spared the chirping. He put his hands up to straighten his hair, not that there was that much, but Boyd **had** ruffled it decently well. 

“I just wish we knew if it was good or bad, you know?” Max said, and immediately wished he could take it back. He genuinely sounded 12 years old. He needed no one to be reminded of his rookie status. 

Oliver nodded, though, and looked down to his pants to pull a loose thread. “I’m pretty sure if we can’t hear them right now things can’t be going too badly.” 

“Or we’ll have to help Smitty hide the body,” Duke teased from the other side. “You know. Team style. It could grow to be the myth of the missing Captain.” 

Max exhaled and looked up trying to imagine what he had done in a past life to earn this. “Yes, Duke. People would just let that slide and there certainly aren’t cameras literally in every corridor of this entire building, parking lot and exit points.” 

“You are actually a fun killer, you know that, Max?” 

The door to the locker room swung open and it was Mike. Max’s head turned and then his whole body as he took the first few steps in. The whole room went dead silent, but Mike proceeded like there wasn’t a huge glowing sign above him that read, ‘THIS AWKWARD FUCKER RIGHT HERE’. Everyone watched his every move as he went to his stall, started to suit up. 

“He totally killed him,” Duke said under his breath. Max slapped him on the outside of his thigh. “Ow. You’re going to leave bruises, dumb fuck.” 

He was trying his best to read body language, see if he could tell if Mike was happy or not. His face was more or less blank, that slack look a lot of guys went with in the locker room when taking off or putting on gear. Methodical and by rout. 

His hair may or may not be extra mussed but seriously that was pretty par for the course for the guy. Max exhaled and looked away, realizing he probably looked like some kind of freak taking everything so seriously when it came to this situation. 

“Shouldn’t you go talk to him, Ollie?” Max tried, they had always given him the impression of being friends but Oliver shook his head. 

He looked over at Mikkel who was already in the process of walking across the locker room and to Mike. Mike looked up at him and didn’t smile, exactly, but didn’t bite his head off or anything so it couldn’t have been _all that bad_. 

Mikkel sat down beside Mike and they talked for a bit, heads ducked and so far away it wasn’t even worth trying to read lips. He turned back to his locker and took one of his sticks to tape, not that it really needed to be taped but more that it was something to do with his hands. 

“Everything’ll be fine Max,” Oliver said, as if he could hear the two of them across the room. “No worries.” 

He nodded at Oliver and Oliver got up to go back to his spot. Max continued with taping and retaping his sticks for a minute, half hoping that Mike would stand up and tell everything to the whole room. 

“Five bucks Shane is curled in the fetal position in a room somewhere,” Duke said. “Mike looks like the kind of guy who would dick punch.” 

Max gave Duke a glare. “You don’t have cash on you to pay Boyd, why would I bet you anything?” 

“Winner chooses the music on the way home?” 

Max weighs it in his head. “I’ll take that. I think they’ll patch it up. No injuries necessary.” 

Were he being completely honest with himself he might say that he wasn’t actually sure that was a possibility. A fight between a pretty aggressive player and a goalie? There were bound to be a few busted lips. He looked back over, casually, at Mike. 

He and Mikkel were talking, and he kept playing with his mouth and wow. Okay, maybe Max could see what Shane saw in Mike cause his mouth was kind of intense. Not that he had even the slightest thoughts of telling that to any human being on the face of the planet. Shane and Mike were freaky intense on their own, not to mention Mikkel had Ollie who could play punching bag with his body… and Duke’s puppy face was worse than Orion’s. 

Thought kept to self. 

Either way, his face was still hard to get a read on, though Mikkel’s back was taut and that rarely meant good things. He turned back around. 

“Maybe one bruise, two bruises tops.” 

Duke clapped his hands and laughed. “You backing out there, Domi?”

“No, _no_. I’m just saying… like. If Shane has a bruise. He probably deserved it? I mean, not even knowing they were dating for how long? I thought they were together back when we were in Juniors, man. That is a long time to call for booty.” 

Duke looked at him and blinked really really slowly. Like he kind paused and waited for the penny to drop between them and when it did Max felt a little like an idiot. 

“I mean, we were on different teams. I was in a different country for most of that time. It doesn’t even begin to count as the same. We have what we have and it works, right? We talk… right?” 

Duke tilted his head. “We talk.” 

“Wait, are we going to start a fight right now? Cause I’m a little invested in the Captain and Goalie drama but … wait. What?” 

Duke looked down, wiping at the back of his neck with one hand. It only lasted a few seconds though before there was the distinct shaking of laughter.

“Oh you stupid mother fucker, I swear to god,” Max smacked him, albeit lightly, with his stick. “I hate you and all you stand for.” 

He got wide eye puppy eyes and a pouting lip for his trouble. “I just want you to love me Max, is it that hard? To just looooove me?” 

“I refuse to accept you as my best friend anymore. It is being passed to Boyd.”

Boyd didn’t even bother to bring his head up from taping his stick. “Not on your fucking life, Domi. I am old enough to not care. Choose Murphs, he can play the Xbox and not drink with you.” 

“Ooo, Xbox?” Connor came across the room. “I’m in.” 

Max groaned. “Worst best friend ever, dude.” 

“Not looking so bad, now am I?” Duke chided. 

The door opened again and the room did the same sudden silence. He was pretty sure that Hanzal and Vermette were standing at the ready, like guard from any number of bad Gladiator movies. It didn’t last though, as Shane looked distinctly like a guy who had either gotten lucky or was going to get lucky. 

(Max hoped with all that he had in him that he had not actually gotten lucky and was instead _going_ to at his or Mike’s house. Far the fuck away from a locker room or closet he might one day need to be within fifty feet of. Because that was freaking _nasty_ and probably broke a lot of health code violations.) 

Shane walked straight over to where Mikkel and Mike were and sat down about three inches from Mike’s side, leaning in a little and getting a smile as a reward. Mikkel stood up suddenly, walking back to Oliver with an annoyed scowl on his face. Not that either of the pair noticed, too caught up in each other. 

Max turned to Duke with a shit eating grin on his face. 

“I don’t know why you’re smiling, dumb ass, we like the same music,” Duke shoved at him. 

Max happily rubbed his hands together. “Yeah, yeah, but you see… I have sisters who made me mixes for me while I was gone. Mixes that make me think of them and love them and all that dumb shit so… you know. Prepare for a metric ton of _Glee_ , Anthony Duclair.” 

Duke groaned and put his face into both hands.

**Author's Note:**

> Basically written because my friends are dirty dirty enablers. <3 
> 
> Thank you LuciFern for the beta and freetodream5 and sly_fck for indulging me. 
> 
> (Also, Connor Murphy is a legitimate 14 year old. True facts.)


End file.
